Control apparatus, imaging control method, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

A control apparatus of an imaging apparatus, includes a selection unit configured to select an image-capturing site of a subject to be examined, a control unit configured to control adjustment of a member of the imaging apparatus, according to the selected image-capturing site, and a determination unit configured to determine whether to perform the adjustment or not in response to a change of image-capturing sites through the selection by the selection unit, based on image-capturing conditions for the image-capturing sites before and after the change of the image-capturing sites.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a control apparatus that controlsadjustment performed in an imaging apparatus, an image-capturing controlmethod thereof, and a storage medium recording a program for executingan image-capturing control process.

Currently, various ophthalmic apparatuses equipped with an opticalapparatus are used. For example, as the optical apparatuses for eyeobservation, various apparatuses such as anterior eye imagingapparatuses, fundus cameras, Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopes (SLOB) areused.

Among those apparatuses, an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) apparatus(hereinafter referred to as an OCT apparatus) provides a high resolutiontomogram of a sample, and is now becoming essential an essential pieceof ophthalmic equipment for retinal outpatient departments.

The OCT apparatus emits a low coherent light beam to irradiate a sample,so that the light beam reflected by the sample interferes with areference light beam to be measured at high sensitivity. The OCTapparatus also scans the sample using the low coherent light beam toprovide a high resolution tomogram of the sample. Accordingly, atomogram of a retina at a fundus of a subject's eye can be captured athigh resolution by the OCT apparatus. As a result, OCT apparatuses havebeen widely used for ophthalmologic examination of retinae.

An ophthalmic apparatus that captures images of a retina needs to alignan optical system thereof with a subject's pupil, and to focus on thesubject's fundus. In the OCT apparatus, interference of a light beamreflected by the retina with a reference light beam obtained by way of areference object is used, and therefore, it is necessary to adjust theoptical path length of the reference light beam. Conventionally, thepath length has been manually adjusted, but in recent years, someapparatuses have been invented to achieve automatic adjustment of thepath length for highly efficient image capturing.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,889,576 discusses a technique of an ophthalmicapparatus, in which alignment is automatically adjusted by determiningan alignment reference point based on a pupil position detected from asignal from an imaging unit and an index image from a cornea, by movinga measuring unit.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,880,895 discusses a technique of an optical tomographicapparatus, in which a reference optical path is changed between, in aretinal mode, high resolution imaging of a retinal surface side portionand, in a choroidal mode, high resolution imaging of a choroid membraneside portion, to automatically obtain images.

Whether adjustment is performed manually or automatically, any change inimaging position of a subject's optic disc or macula or any change inimage-capturing mode requires readjustment, which increases loads on anoperator and prolongs the period of time required before imaging.

SUMMARY

According to some embodiments, a control apparatus equipped in animaging apparatus is provided. The control apparatus comprising: aselection unit configured to select an image-capturing site of a testobject; a control unit configured to control adjustment of a member ofthe imaging apparatus, corresponding to the selected image-capturingsite; a determination unit configured to determine whether to performthe adjustment or not in response to an exchange of image-capturingsites through the selection, based on image-capturing conditions for theimage-capturing sites before and after the exchange.

According to another embodiment, an imaging apparatus includes a controlapparatus. The control apparatus controls an imaging apparatus thatperforms Optical Coherence Tomography, and includes a changing unitconfigured to switch image-capturing modes for capturing images of asubject's eye, a determination unit configured to determine whether tocause the imaging apparatus to perform a specific adjustment in responseto the mode change, based on the image-capturing modes before and afterthe change, and a control unit configured to perform the control of thespecific adjustment based on the determination result.

Further features and aspects of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the following detailed description of exemplaryembodiments with reference to the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments, features,and aspects of the invention and, together with the description, serveto explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an image diagnosissystem according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an OCT unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a controlapparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a control process performed by acontrol apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the positional relationship between acoherence gate position and an OCT tomographic image.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an example of an operation screendisplayed on a display apparatus 302.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating another control process according toan exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a table illustrating a relationship between an image-capturingmode, a fixation light position, and a coherence gate position.

FIG. 9 is a table illustrating a relationship between adjustment itemsand periods of time required for the adjustments, respectively.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating an example of setting illustrating eachimage capturing mode according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a view illustrating whether adjustment is required or not foreach adjustment item, with marks “0” and “X”, for each order of imagecapturing.

FIG. 12 is a view illustrating the number of times of adjustments foreach adjustment item and total period of time required for theadjustments, for each order of image capturing.

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating a structure of a control apparatusaccording to a third exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a control in changingimage-capturing modes.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a process to change adjustmentcontrol according to a time interval between image capturing.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a process for readjustment that iscontinued until completion of adjustment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a process to change adjustmentcontrol according to change in coherence gate.

FIG. 18 is a view illustrating a range used for coherence gate fineadjustment after changing the image-capturing modes.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating another control in changing theimage-capturing modes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Various exemplary embodiments, features, and aspects will be describedin detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram illustrating an image diagnosissystem according to the present exemplary embodiment. FIG. 2 is a blockdiagram illustrating an OCT unit. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustratinga control apparatus. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a controlprocess performed by the control apparatus. The following exemplaryembodiments are described with reference to these diagrams.

An image diagnosis system 1 according to the present embodiment includesan imaging apparatus 10 for checking a subject's eye portion, and acontrol apparatus 20 which performs image-capturing control processes onthe imaging apparatus 10. The imaging apparatus 10 is an Opticaltomographic apparatus that captures images of the fundus of a subject'seye based on the principle of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), and isprovided with an optical tomographic unit, an anterior eye imaging unitconfigured to capture images of the anterior of a subject eye (hereinreferred to as the “anterior eye”), and an SLO image-capturing unit.

<Anterior Eye Imaging Unit>

With reference to FIG. 1, the anterior eye imaging unit is used foralignment, and the alignment performed therewith is described. Acoordinate system of the present exemplary embodiment has its Z axis inthe direction of a subject's eye axis, its X axis in the directionhorizontal to a fundus image, and its Y axis in the directionperpendicular to the fundus image. The anterior eye is illuminated witha light emitting diode (LED) 120 for illuminating anterior eye. An imageof the anterior eye is formed onto an anterior eye camera 119 using abeam splitter 116 and an anterior eye focus lens 117. The image is inputinto a central processing unit (CPU) 301 illustrated in FIG. 3.

<SLO, Fundus Imaging Unit>

With reference to FIG. 1, a Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope (SLO) which isan apparatus for observing fundus is described. A laser light source 101can be a semiconductor laser or a Super Luminescent Diode (SLD) lightsource. It is preferable to use a near-infrared wavelength range from700 nm to 1000 nm, which decreases dazzle given to a subject duringfundus observation, and maintains its high resolution. In the presentexemplary embodiment, a semiconductor laser having a 780-nm wavelengthis used, and the amount of the light of the laser can be changed using acontrol voltage.

A laser beam emitted from the laser light source 101 is converted intoparallel light by a collimator lens 102, and passes through a hole of anaperture mirror 103, an SLO-X scanner 104, and an SLO-Y scanner 105. Thebeam further passes through a beam splitter 106, an eyepiece lens(objective lens) 107 and enters a subject's eye 108.

Hereinafter, a coordinate system of the present exemplary embodiment hasits Z axis in the direction of a subject's eye axis, its X axis in thedirection horizontal to a fundus image, and its Y axis in the directionperpendicular to the fundus image.

The beam incident on the subject's eye 108 is radiated on the fundus ofthe subject's eye 108 as a point beam of light. The beam is reflected orscattered by the fundus of the subject's eye 108 to return via the sameoptical path to the aperture mirror 103.

The reflected or scattered light beam is reflected by the aperturemirror 103 to be received by an avalanche photodiode (hereinafter,referred to as APD) 110 via an SLO focus lens 109, resulting in signalseach representing the reflection and scattering intensity from a spot onthe fundus. Then, raster scan by SLO scanners (X) and (Y) is achieved toobtain a two dimensional image of the fundus.

<OCT Unit>

An OCT unit 111 is described with reference to FIG. 2. The OCT unit 111splits the low coherence light beam into a reference light beam and asignal light beam. The OCT unit 111 then combines the signal light beamreturned from the subject's eye 108 and the reference light beamreturned from the reference object to generate an interference lightbeam, which is subjected to color separation and output correspondingsignals. The signals separated based on colors are input into the CPU301. The CPU 301 analyzes the detected signals to form a tomographicimage or a three dimensional image of the fundus.

The low coherence light source 201 includes a broadband light sourceemitting a low coherence light beam, and as the broadband light sourcein the present exemplary embodiment, a super luminescent diode (SLD) isused. The low coherence light beam includes a near-infrared range light,and also includes a coherent length of several tens micrometers, such asa light beam having a wavelength of about 800 nm to 900 nm.

The low coherence light beam emitted from the low coherence light source201 is guided through an optical fiber 202 to an optical coupler 203.The optical fiber 202 is generally configured of a single mode fiber.The optical coupler 203 divide the low coherence light beam into areference light beam and a signal light beam.

The reference light beam generated by the optical coupler 203 is guidedthrough an optical fiber 204, and is converted into a parallel lightflux by a collimator lens 205. The light flux passes through a glassblock 206 which is a dispersion compensating unit configured to make thedispersion properties of the reference light beam and the observationlight match each other. The light flux is then reflected by a referencemirror 207. The reflected reference light beam returns via the sameoptical path to enter the optical fiber 204.

The reference mirror 207 is movable in the travelling direction of thereference light beam. This structure enables adjustment of the pathlengths of the reference light beam and an observation light beam causedby the eye axis length of the subject's eye 108 and a distance betweenthe eyepiece lens (objective lens) 107 and the subject's eye 108.

The signal light generated by the optical coupler 203 passes through afiber 208 to a scanner of the OCT and an eyepiece portion in FIG. 1.Then, the signal light is reflected and scattered by the retina of thesubject's eye, and reenters the fiber 208. The signal light beam, whichpasses through the fiber 208 and guided into the optical coupler 203, isinterfered with the reference light beam, and then passes through anoptical fiber 209 to be converted into parallel light by a collimatorlens 210. The parallel light is separated by a diffraction grating 211,and passes through an OCT focus lens 212 to form an image on onedimensional sensor 213.

The one dimensional sensor 213 may be a charge coupled device (CCD)sensor or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor. Thestructure enables acquisition of signals from the one dimensional sensor213 as separated signals of the interference light beam.

<OCT Scanning, Eyepiece Portion>

An OCT scanning mechanism is described with reference to FIG. 1. An OCTunit 111 emits a signal light. A collimator lens 112 converts the lightinto a parallel beam, which passes through an OCT-X scanner 113 and anOCT-Y scanner 114. The beam is reflected by a mirror 115 and the beamsplitter 106 to pass through the eyepiece lens (objective lens) 107 intothe subject's eye 108. The beam entered the subject's eye 108 isreflected and scattered by the fundus, as with the SLO, to return viathe same optical path to the OCT unit 111.

<Control Unit>

The control apparatus 20 that controls the imaging apparatus 10 isdescribed with reference to FIG. 3. A central processing unit (centralprocessing unit (CPU)) 301 is connected to a display apparatus 302, amain storage apparatus 303 (random access memory (RAM)), and a storageapparatus 304 (read only memory (ROM)) that stores a program to executethe process in the flowchart in FIG. 4. The CPU 301 is further connectedto a one dimensional sensor interface 306, an APD interface 307, and adigital to analog (D/A) converter 314.

The one dimensional sensor interface 306 receives data of the onedimensional sensor 213 as an output from the OCT. The APD interface 307receives data of the APD as an output from the SLO. The D/A converter314 generates a voltage for controlling the intensity of the SLO lightsource. The D/A converter 314 is connected to an SLO scanner controlcircuit 308 and an OCT scanner control circuit 311 (i.e., scannercontrollers).

The control apparatus 20 controls operations for adjusting positions andsettings of various members in the imaging apparatus 10. Morespecifically, the control apparatus 20 transmits commands to instructadjustments together with control parameters of the adjustments to theimaging apparatus 10, so that the imaging apparatus 10 adjusts thepositions and settings of various members thereof.

The SLO scanner control circuit 308 performs SLO scanner control usingan SLO scanner driver (X) and an SLO scanner driver (Y), and controlsthe scan center position, the scan width, and the scan rate of the SLOscanner driver (Y), according to commands from the CPU 301.

The CPU 301 can acquire information about a scan position of an SLO beamfrom the SLO scanner control circuit 308. Similarly, the OCT scannercontrol circuit 311 performs OCT scanner control using the OCT scannerdriver (X) and the OCT scanner driver (Y). The OCT scanner controlcircuit 311 controls the scan center position in the x and y directions,the scan widths in the x and y directions, and the scan rate, accordingto commands from the CPU 301. The CPU 301 can acquire information abouta scan position of an OCT signal beam from OCT scanner control circuit311.

A stage driving control circuit 321 can move a stage, which theapparatuses illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 are provided with, in the X, Y,and Z directions using a stage driver X 315, a stage driver Y 316, and astage driver Z 317, respectively. The stage, which illustrated in FIGS.1 and 2 are provided with, is mounted on a base (not illustrated), andthe subject's eye, the stages, and the apparatuses mounted on the stagescan be moved relative to the base.

The CPU 301 controls the apparatuses by executing a program stored inthe program storage ROM 304 to perform the control process illustratedin the flowchart in FIG. 4. During the process, the CPU 301 serves as aselection unit 3011 and a determination unit 3012 by executing theprogram.

The selection unit 3011 selects an image-capturing mode according to apress-down of a button by a user. The “image-capturing mode” means animage capturing method defined by a combination of an image-capturingsite and image-capturing conditions corresponding thereto. Thus,different image-capturing modes includes a case with differentimage-capturing conditions and different image-capturing sites, a casewith the same image-capturing site and different image-capturingconditions, and a case with different image-capturing sites and the sameimage-capturing conditions.

The “image-capturing site of a subject's eye” refers to a tissue or anrange of a subject's eye, such as a fundus, an anterior eye, a maculaportion of a fundus, and an optic disc portion of a fundus.

In some cases, after a user presses a button to select animage-capturing mode, and adjustments are performed in the mode, anotherimage-capturing mode is selected. Examples of such situations include acase where a user selects a correct image-capturing mode afteraccidentally selecting a wrong image-capturing mode, and a case whereimages of the same subject's eye are captured in a plurality ofimage-capturing modes.

In the above situations, the determination unit 3012 checks if thesettings for adjustment items such as a coherence gate and an alignmentare the same between image-capturing mode selected first (beforechanging) (first image-capturing mode), and the image-capturing modeselected next (after changing) (second image-capturing mode). Thedetermination unit 3012 then sets the items that require no adjustmentbefore and after the mode changing, and adjusts the items that dorequire adjustment.

The term used herein “Coherence Gate (CG)” refers to a positioncorresponding to the position of the reference mirror 207 on thereference optical path along the measuring path. If an imaginary opticalpath for the measuring beam reflected at the coherence gate position,the optical path has the same length as that of the optical path for thereference light beam reflected at the reference mirror.

For example, the determination unit 3012 determines whether to performadjustment corresponding to a second image-capturing site, after theselection unit 3011 selects a first and second image-capturing sites andadjustment corresponding to the first image-capturing site is started,based on the first and second image-capturing sites. The determinationunit 3012 also determines whether to perform adjustment corresponding toa second image-capturing site, when the second image-capturing site isinput after adjustment corresponding to the first image-capturing siteis started, based on the first and second image-capturing sites.

In a specific case, the CPU 301, the SLO scanner control circuit 308,the OCT scanner control circuit 311, or the stage driving controlcircuit 321 instructs both of adjustment of relative positions between atarget object and the imaging apparatus 10 and adjustment of a coherencegate position.

The term “specific case” as used herein refers to a case where theposition of a fixation light target, emitted from a light source of theimaging apparatus 10 for the first image-capturing site is differentfrom that for the second image-capturing site. The term “target object”as used herein refers to a subject's eye. The term “first and secondimage-capturing sites” refer to different sites on the fundus of asubject's eye.

The determination unit 3012 determines to adjust the relative positionof the imaging apparatus 10 to a subject′ eye. When the first and secondimage-capturing site are on different layers of the retina of thesubject's eye from each other, the determination unit 3012 determines toadjust a coherence gate position.

The CPU 301 perform control to adjust the items that are determined tobe adjusted according to the determination made by the determinationunit 3012. The term “alignment control” as used herein refers to aninstruction from the CPU 301 to the stage driving control circuit 321 sothat the stage is driven by a predetermined amount of distance.

<Alignment Control>

The alignment control can be performed by detecting a pupil from animage captured by an anterior eye camera, and driving the stages X and Yby the stage driving control circuit 321 so that the center of the pupilis positioned at the center of an image to be captured. The z directionof the stages can be adjusted by driving the stage by the stage drivingcontrol circuit 321 in the Y direction for focusing, using an imagesplitting prism 118 disposed near the lens 117.

<SLO process, Focus Adjustment>

An SLO image capturing process is described below. The CPU 301 sets aprescribed value to the D/A converter 314, and a predetermined centerposition for Y scanning, a scan speed, a scan width in the Y directionto the SLO scanner control circuit 308. With this, an SLO beam scans aretina. During the scanning, the APD outputs signals in proportion tothe light intensity reflected and scattered from the retina. The SLOfocus lens 109 is movable on the light axis by an SLO focus driver 318for focusing.

The CPU 301 overlaps the intensity of the APD signal at the scanningpositions respectively from the SLO scanner control circuit 308 toobtain an image of the retina. The image can be displayed by displayingit on the display apparatus 302.

The two dimensional image allows the operator to confirm a position tocapture an OCT image. By performing control to maximize the contrast ofthe image, focusing can be performed.

The OCT focusing and the SLO focusing are performed through differentoptical systems. The driving of the optical systems is linked, and eachfocus position and a driving amount corresponding to the position arestored as table information in a hard disk 305. When the optical systemsare driven based on the table information, the SLO focusing results inthe OCT focusing.

<OCT Process, Coherence Gate Adjustment>

A process for OCT image capturing is described. The CPU 301 sets acenter position in the x and y directions, a scan speed, a scan width inthe x and y directions, and a main scan direction to the OCT scannercontrol circuit 311. With the set values, a signal light beam from theOCT unit 111 scans a retina.

During the scanning, the output from the one dimensional sensor 213 ofthe OCT unit 111 is input through the one dimensional sensor interface306 into the CPU 301. The CPU 301 performs Fast Fourier Transformation(FFT) processing on the main storage apparatus 303 according to aprogram stored in the program storage ROM 304, and obtains informationabout the depth direction of the retina.

The depth direction information and the positional information from theOCT scanner control circuit 311 are used to obtain a B scan image, whichis a cross-sectional image substantially parallel to the Z direction,and a three dimensional image of the retina. The images can be displayedby displaying them on the display apparatus 302.

The OCT focus lens 212 is movable along the optical axis by the OCTfocus driver 319 for focusing. The reference mirror 207 is movable alongthe optical axis by the reference mirror driver 320. A position on aretina corresponding to the reference mirror 207 is referred to acoherence gate, and a portion closer to the coherence gate provides animage having a higher intensity.

With reference to FIG. 5, the positional relationship between acoherence gate position and a resultant OCT tomographic image isdescribed. A coherence gate located at an upper portion of a retina asillustrated in an image 5-1 results in capturing of an image 5-2. Inthis case, the nerve fiber layer of the eye is more clearly imaged thanthe pigmented epithelium layer, and therefore image capturing in thiscase is suitable for observation of the upper portion of a retina, forchecking glaucoma for example. The observation mode is herein referredto as a vitreous body mode.

A coherence gate located at a lower portion of a retina as illustratedin an image 5-3 results in capturing of an upside-down image as anillustrated in an image 5-4. This is because the OCT measures thedistance from the coherence gate. In this case, the pigmented epitheliumlayer is more clearly imaged than the nerve fiber layer, and imagecapturing in this case is suitable for observation of the lower portionof a retina, for checking macula lutea degeneration, for example. Theobservation mode is herein referred to as a choroid membrane mode.Apparently, in this mode also, an image is displayed upside down withthe upper portion of a retina being disposed on the upper side of theimage.

In the vitreous body mode, a coherence gate is automatically adjusted bypositioning a coherence gate sufficiently far from a retina, generallyin a vitreous body of the eye, and approaching the coherence gategradually to the retina to find a position where the retina imageappears and an image of the entire retina can be captured. In thechoroid membrane mode, on the contrary, a coherence gate isautomatically adjusted by positioning a coherence gate below a retina ona choroidal side, and approaching the coherence gate gradually to theretina to find a position where a retina image appears and an image ofthe entire retina can be captured.

The above operations lead to automatic adjustment of a coherence gate.

<Operations>

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of an operation screen displayed on thedisplay apparatus 302. In FIG. 6, the operation screen includes ananterior eye image 601, a start button 602 for automatic alignmentadjustment, a fundus image 603 captured by SLO, and a scroll bar 604 formanual focus adjustment. The operation screen further includes anautomatic focus adjustment start button 605, a retina tomogram 606captured by OCT, and a scroll bar 609 for manual coherence gateadjustment. The operation screen further includes an automatic focusstart button 608, a prescanning start button 609, an OCT image capturingbutton 610, and an image-capturing mode changing button 611.

With respect to the image-capturing mode, the following items can bespecified in advance: a scan pattern such as a one dimensional image anda two dimensional image, a scan position to determine a position of afixation light such as at a macula portion and at an optic disc portion,and an OCT image-capturing mode such as the vitreous body mode and thechoroid membrane mode of a coherence gate.

In the above operation screen, when a subject places his/her eye infront of the apparatus, only the anterior eye image 601 is displayed,and the fundus image 603 and the retina tomogram 606 are not displayed.When the prescanning start button 609 is pressed, an automatic alignmentadjustment is performed, and then SLO and OCT image capturing arestarted, so that the fundus image 603 and the retina tomogram 606 aredisplayed. At this time, other adjustments are not performed, so thatthe images are not displayed correctly.

Subsequently, an automatic focus adjustment and a subsequent automaticcoherence gate adjustment are performed, so that the fundus image 603and the retina tomogram 606 are displayed in correctly adjusted states.

If determining that the images are correctly displayed, the operatorpresses the OCT image capturing button 610 to perform OCT imagecapturing. If determining that focusing and/or coherence gate adjustmentare not correctly performed, the operator uses the corresponding scrollbars respectively for manual adjustments.

After the OCT image capturing button 610 is pressed for OCT imagecapturing and before an OCT image is captured, if an operator wants tochange the current image-capturing mode, there may be a case wherereadjustments need to be performed on some items. In the presentexemplary embodiment, based on the image-capturing modes before andafter the mode change, the determination unit 3012 determines the items,and performs automatic adjustments on the items only.

The above operation is described with reference to a flowchartillustrated in FIG. 4. In step S401, the image-capturing mode changingbutton 611 is pressed, and the selection unit 3011 selects animage-capturing mode, so that the image-capturing modes are changed. Instep S402, the determination unit 3012 determines whether a preview isperformed or not. If a preview is not performed (NO in step S402), instep S411, the process ends and a normal operation starts.

If a preview is started (YES in step S402), a fixation light is changedto a position suitable for an image-capturing site in response to themode change. At this time, the eye may have moved, which requiresreadjustment of alignment. Therefore, in step S403, it is determinedwhether the image capturing position is changed. If it is determinedthat the image capturing position is changed (YES in step S403), theprocessing proceeds to step S404. In step S404, the CPU 301 as a controlunit performs automatic alignment adjustment. If it is determined thatthe image capturing position is not changed (NO in step S403), theprocessing proceeds to step S407.

When the subject has high myopia, the fundus is likely to be aspherical.This causes a difference in distances from the objective lens to themacula and to the optic disc, for example. Thus, the visual acuity ofthe subject can be input in advance to the apparatus, so that theinformation is used to determine whether there is a difference in thedistances.

In other cases, if the coherence gate is at a position beyond aprescribed value, the subject is likely to have axial myopia which isaccompanied by a longer eye axis than normal. Accordingly, in step S405,the determination unit 3012 determines that the subject has axial myopia(YES in step S405), and in step S406, the CPU 301 performs automaticfocus adjustment.

In step S407, the determination unit 3012 determines whether the OCTimage-capturing mode is changed between the vitreous body mode and thechoroid membrane mode. When the mode is changed (YES in step S407), instep S408, the CPU 301 performs adjustment of the coherence gate.

In step S409, the determination unit 3012 determines whether the subjecthas high myopia or whether the coherence gate is at a position beyond aprescribed value, as in step S405. When it is determined that thesubject has high myopia (YES in step S409), adjustment of the coherencegate is required for the same reason, and thereby in step S408, the CPU301 similarly performs adjustment of the coherence gate.

In step S408, the positional information of the retina is alreadyobtained, and thereby adjustment can be completed more quickly than thecase described in the <OCT Process, Coherence Gate Adjustment>.

Since, a human retina has a constant thickness of 1 mm or less notdepending on individuals. Accordingly, for example, when theimage-capturing mode is changed from the vitreous body mode to thechoroid membrane mode, the coherence gate is moved by about 1 mm awayfrom the retina to perform the above adjustment, which results in aquicker adjustment.

Through the above processing, an automatic adjustment that is requireddue to mode change only is automatically executed when image-capturingmodes are changed, and thereby image capturing can be performedappropriately and in a short period of time in the changedimage-capturing mode.

The above processing is useful because the period of time for adjustmentcan be reduced, especially when the coherence gate and alignment areonce returned to their reference positions respectively before coherencegate adjustment and alignment adjustment are performed.

The above processing is also useful in cases where the preprocess forimage capturing adjustment and the other processes performed beforeadjustment take a long time before mirrors, lenses, and stages aremoved. For example, when a focus adjustment is performed in a knownhill-climbing method, unless a focus lens is driven, the CPU 301 cannotdetermine whether the focus is appropriate or not.

On the contrary, in the present exemplary embodiment, when determinationunit 3012 determines that there is no change in a focus positionaccompanied by the change of the image-capturing mode, the focusadjustment itself through driving of a focus lens becomes unnecessary.Consequently, the period of time required for adjustment before imagingcan be reduced.

In the above exemplary embodiment, the image-capturing modes are changedafter a preview image capturing and before a main image capturing.Alternatively, an image of the same subject's eye may be subsequentlycaptured in another image-capturing mode after the main image capturingis performed.

In a second exemplary embodiment, an image-capturing method forcapturing images of an eye in a shortest period of time by determiningthe order of the image-capturing modes, when tomograms of a subject'seye are to be obtained in a plurality of image-capturing modes, isdescribed.

The block diagrams of entire system, the OCT unit 111, and the controlunit of the present exemplary embodiment are the same as thoseillustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3 respectively, therefore descriptions thereofare omitted. In the present exemplary embodiment, there are two or moreimage-capturing modes. In the present exemplary embodiment, to oneimage-capturing site, only one image-capturing mode is set, andtherefore the image-capturing conditions are different for the differentimage capturing modes.

The imaging apparatus 10, when capturing images of preselectedimage-capturing sites in a predetermined order, obtains images of theimage-capturing sites respectively by performing adjustmentcorresponding to one image-capturing site, capturing an image of theimage-capturing site, changing setting for another image-capturing site,and repeating these operations in this order for each site.

When a plurality of image-capturing sites are selected, the CPU 301 ofthe control apparatus 20 controls the order of the image-capturing sitesfor image capturing, according to a determination result by thedetermination unit 3012, so that the period of time for adjustment ofthe imaging apparatus 10 is minimized.

The adjustment items in the imaging apparatus 10 for each of theimage-capturing sites can respectively have fixed standard periods oftime required for adjustment. Accordingly, a storage unit in the imagingapparatus 10 stores table information containing the adjustment periodsof time in an organized manner for the adjustment items.

The determination unit 3012 then uses the table information to determinethe order of the image-capturing sites for imaging so that theadjustment period of time is optimized. The order of the image-capturingsites for imaging is determined by calculating the total period of timerequired for adjustment for each of the permutations of the selectedimage-capturing sites, and selecting the permutation requiring theshortest period for adjustment as the order for imaging.

The CPU 301 determines whether adjustment is required, for any order forimaging, in response to a change of an image-capturing site. Theadjustment includes shifting between right and left eyes, alignmentadjustment, focus adjustment, and coherence gate adjustment. Thedetermination is made based on the image-capturing conditions that arerelated to the image-capturing sites before and after the change.

With reference to the flowchart in FIG. 7, a specific procedureperformed by the control unit of the present exemplary embodiment isdescribed. In step S701, the selection unit 3011 obtains instructionsfor a plurality of modes for image capturing of a subject's eye, inresponse to a press down of the image-capturing mode changing button 611by an operator (not illustrated).

In step S702, the CPU 301 functioning as a control unit calculates allof the rearranged orders of the instructed image-capturing modes. At thecalculation, the determination unit 3012 determines whether shiftingbetween right and left eyes, alignment adjustment, focus adjustment, andcoherence gate adjustment are individually required at each of the modechanging. The determination is made based on a table described below.

In step S703, the CPU 301 functioning as a control unit calculates aperiod of time required for imaging throughout each of the rearrangedorders of the instructed image-capturing modes. In step S704, the CPU301 functioning as a control unit selects the order calculated asrequiring the shortest period for imaging in step S703. In step S705,the CPU 301 functioning as a control unit executes an image capturing ofa subject's eye in the order of the image-capturing modes selected instep S704.

The above process is described using an example. In the presentexemplary embodiment, the OCT apparatus provides the image-capturingmodes illustrated in FIG. 8.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, in each of the image-capturing modes, aposition of a fixation light and a coherence gate mode are associated toeach other as items of image-capturing conditions. In the presentexemplary embodiment, the periods of time required for adjustmentsbefore imaging are illustrated in FIG. 9.

As illustrated in step S701, an operator selects one of theimage-capturing modes 1 to 4 illustrated in FIG. 10. The processing instep S702 is then executed. The image-capturing modes are thenrearranged, and the period of time for imaging in each rearranged orderof the image-capturing modes is calculated.

FIG. 11 illustrates all of the rearranged orders of the instructedimage-capturing modes. FIG. 11 also illustrates which adjustments arenecessary for the image capturing in each order. In other words, evenwhen an adjustment is necessary in a mode for imaging, if the adjustmentwas already executed in the previous mode, the adjustment does not haveto be repeated. In FIG. 11, each adjustment item has “o” if readjustmentis necessary, and “X” if readjustment is not necessary.

Shifting between right and left eyes: when another eye is specified forimage capturing, the optical head of the imaging apparatus 10 needs tobe shifted between right and left eyes.

Change of fixation light position: for each image-capturing mode, thefixation light position is predetermined. In the present exemplaryembodiment, the fixation light is positioned differently in a maculamode and an optic disc mode.

Anterior eye alignment adjustment: when the optical head of the imagingapparatus 10 is moved, an alignment of the anterior eye is required.When the position of a fixation light is changed, another alignment ofthe anterior eye is required because the eyeball moves.

Fundus focus adjustment: when the optical head of the imaging apparatus10 is moved, fundus focus adjustment is required. Alternatively, whenthe position of a fixation light is changed, another alignment of theanterior eye is required because the eyeball moves.

Coherence gate adjustment: when the optical head of the imagingapparatus 10 is moved, coherence gate adjustment (CG adjustment) isrequired. Alternatively, when the position of a fixation light ischanged, coherence gate alignment is required because the eyeball moves.Alternatively, even when a coherence gate mode necessary for theimage-capturing mode is changed (e.g., from the vitreous body mode tothe choroid membrane mode, or vice versa), coherence gate adjustment isrequired.

Based on the above rule, the results in FIG. 11 are obtained.

The process in step S703 is performed next. As illustrated in FIG. 12,the number of times adjustment is required are sorted in each order ofimage capturing. The total period of time required for adjustment iscalculated for each order of image capturing, according to FIG. 9, FIG.11, and the following formula. The calculated adjustment periods of timeare listed in the rightmost column in FIG. 12.

Calculated adjustment period of time=the number of times of shiftingbetween right and left eyes*period of time required for shifting betweenright and left eyes+the number of times of alignments*period of timerequired for alignments+the number of times of focus adjustments*periodof time required for focus adjustments+the number of times of CGadjustments*period of time required for CG adjustments

The process in step S704 is performed next. FIG. 12 indicates that theorder 3-4-1-2 requires the shortest period of time, and that the orderrequires 111 seconds. The process in step S705 is performed next. Imagecapturing is performed in the order of mode 3, mode 4, mode 1, and mode2.

The control apparatus 20 stores the tables illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 12in the ROM 304 or the hard disk 305, so that the above control isexecuted using the information in the tables. As described above in thepresent exemplary embodiment, when images of a subject's eye arecaptured in a plurality of image-capturing modes, the order of theimage-capturing modes is rearranged to minimize the readjustment periodof time to be required, which enables image capturing of the eye withina short period of time.

When the period of time for adjustment changes depending on the amountof adjustment, the period of time for adjustment is estimated in view ofthe amount of adjustment, so that the calculation for the period becomesmore accurate. This can also reduce the period of time for adjustment.

In addition, when the period of time for adjustment changes depending onthe amount of adjustment or where the period of time for adjustmentcannot be estimated accurately, for reduction in the period of timerequired for the process to control the order of image capturing, theorder of image capturing is determined so that the number of times ofadjustments is minimized, instead of the period of time for adjustments.This can reduce the period of time required for the process to controlthe order of image capturing.

When changing the image-capturing modes, elimination of necessaryadjustment may be effective, but at the same time complete eliminationof adjustments for some items may result in inappropriate imagecapturing. In a third exemplary embodiment, in view of abovepossibility, a rough adjustment control and other specific adjustmentcontrol are not performed based on the image-capturing modes before andafter the changing.

FIG. 13 illustrates a control apparatus according to the presentexemplary embodiment. The configurations of the OCT image-capturingunit, the SLO image-capturing unit, and other components similar tothose of the above exemplary embodiment are not described.

A CPU 1301 of a control apparatus 1300 integrally controls the processesperformed by the control apparatus 1300. The CPU 1301 loads programsfrom the ROM 304 onto the RAM 303 to perform the processes illustratedin the flowcharts in FIGS. 14, 15, 16, 18, and 19, and executes commandscontained in the programs. Accordingly, the CPU 1301 functions as a modechanging unit 1302, an adjustment determination unit 1303, and acompletion determination unit 1304.

The mode changing unit 1302 changes image-capturing modes. Theadjustment determination unit 1303 determines whether to performadjustment for each item, in response to the mode change. The completiondetermination unit 1304 determines whether the adjustments arecompleted, and whether the condition is ready to obtain an appropriateimage.

The control apparatus 1300 includes an neutral density filter (NDF)control circuit 1305 that rotates an NDF placed in a reference opticalpath to control the intensity of a reference light beam. The controlapparatus 1300 further includes a polarization control circuit 1306 forcontrolling the polarization states of a measuring beam and thereference light beam that are combined by the optical coupler 203.

According to a flowchart illustrating in FIG. 14, a process performed bythe control apparatus 1300 having the above structure is described. Inthe processing illustrated in FIG. 14, the CPU 1301 skips roughadjustment depending on the situation. In a different standpoint, theadjustment determination unit 1303 determines the size of a searchingrange for adjustment by the imaging apparatus 10, according to whether atarget eye of a subject is changed or not.

In step S1401, the mode changing unit 1302 changes image-capturing modesin response to an input from an operation unit such as a mouse, akeyboard, or a touch panel device (not illustrated). For example, whenan image-capturing mode different from the current image-capturing modeis selected through a graphical user interface (GUI) screen illustratedin FIG. 6, in response to an instruction given by press-down of animage-capturing mode changing button 611, the mode changing unit 1302changes the image-capturing modes.

The image-capturing modes are defined in association with a set ofimage-capturing parameters, as in the above exemplary embodiments. Theparameters include information about right and left eyes, a fundusalignment position, a coherence gate position, and a focus position.

In step S1402, the adjustment determination unit 1303 refers to theimage-capturing mode information before and after the changing that isstored in the memory, to determine whether the target eye is changed.The “change of eyes” means the target eye for image capturing is changedto another one due to changing between right and left eye of a subjector changing of subjects. When the adjustment determination unit 1303determines that the target eye is changed (YES in step S1402), theprocess proceeds to step S1403.

In step S1403, the stage driving control circuit 321 performs alignmentof an anterior eye. The alignment of an anterior eye is performed bymoving the stage by the stage driving control circuit 321, andpositioning a target eye onto an optical path of an image capturingoptical system of the apparatus 10.

In step S1404, the SLO scanner control circuit 308 performs roughadjustment of an SLO focus. In the focus rough adjustment, the SLOscanner control circuit 308 moves a focus position using the focusdriver 318 at a predetermined pitch (i.e., a first focus pitch) withinthe entire range where the focus position is changeable or apredetermined range (i.e., a first focus range).

At each focus position, the SLO scanner control circuit 308 capturesimages of the fundus of a subject's eye, and detects contrast of theobtained images. The position giving the highest contrast image isidentified as a roughly adjusted position, which ends the roughadjustment. The specified position is stored in the RAM 303.

In step S1405, the SLO scanner control circuit 308 performs fineadjustment of the SLO focus. In the focus fine adjustment, the SLOscanner control circuit 308 refers to the roughly adjusted positionstored in the RAM 303, and moves a focus position at a predeterminedpitch (i.e., a second focus pitch) within a predetermined range (i.e., asecond focus range) around the roughly adjusted position.

The second focus range is narrower than the first focus range, and thesecond focus pitch is smaller than the first focus pitch. The positiongiving the highest contrast in the SLO image that is obtained byshifting a focus at the second focus pitch is identified as a finelyadjusted position, which ends the fine adjustment. The identifiedposition is stored in the RAM 303 and the hard disk 305.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the imaging apparatus 10 in FIG. 1has only one focus lens, but may have focus lenses in the SLO and theOCT respectively. A plurality of focus lenses provides an advantage insolving the problem that the angle of field of the OCT and the pupilposition are changed along with movement of the SLO focus.

In this case, an OCT focus position can be appropriately setinterlocking with an SLO focus position. More specifically,concentration of the light from the SLO light source onto a fundus canbe achieved through an appropriate setting of an OCT focus positionusing the information of the light source such as wavelength.

The CG adjustment after the SLO focus adjustment provides an appropriatetomographic image. In other words, in a case where an OCT focusadjustment is performed previously, if coherence gate adjustment has notbeen performed appropriately at the point of time, no tomographic imageis obtained.

Even when a coherence gate position has been appropriately set, if thefocus position of the OCT light source is not appropriate at the pointof time, the interference light beam is weakened, resulting in notomographic image. An SLO image can be obtained if it is only in focus.Therefore, after the focus adjustment is performed for an SLO image andthe OCT focus adjustment is performed interlocking therewith, then theCG adjustment is performed in this order. Thus, an appropriate OCTtomographic image can be efficiently obtained.

In step S1406, the OCT scanner control circuit 311 performs roughadjustment of a coherence gate (CG). In the CG rough adjustment, the OCTscanner control circuit 311 moves a CG position using the referencemirror driver 320 at a predetermined pitch (i.e., a first CG pitch)within the entire range where the CG position is movable or apredetermined range (i.e., a first CG range).

At each CG position, the OCT scanner control circuit 311 captures atomographic image of the fundus of a subject's eye, and determines theluminance value of the obtained tomographic image. The position givingthe tomographic image of a retina is identified as a roughly adjusted CGposition, which ends the rough adjustment.

The determination whether a tomographic image of a retina is obtained ornot is made using the pixel value (luminance value) of the tomographicimage. If tomographic images are obtained at a plurality of CG positionsrespectively, the CG position having the largest pixel value isidentified as the roughly adjusted position. The identified CG positionis stored in the RAM 303.

In step S1407, the OCT scanner control circuit 311 performs fineadjustment of an OCT coherence gate (CG). In the CG fine adjustment, theOCT scanner control circuit 311 refers to the roughly adjusted CGposition stored in the RAM 303, and moves the CG position at apredetermined pitch (i.e., a second CG pitch) within a predeterminedrange (i.e., a second CG range) around the roughly adjusted CG position.

The second CG range is narrower than the first CG range, and the secondCG pitch is smaller than the first CG pitch. The position giving thetomographic image having the largest luminance value that is obtained byshifting the CG at the second focus pitch is identified as a finelyadjusted CG position, which ends the fine adjustment. The identifiedposition is stored in the RAM 303 and the hard disk 305.

In contrast, in step S1402, when it is determined that the target eye isnot changed (NO in step S1402), in step S1408, the SLO scanner controlcircuit 308 performs fine adjustment of the SLO focus as in step S1405.In step S1409, the OCT scanner control circuit 311 performs fineadjustment of the coherence gate (CG) as in step S1407.

When images of the same eye are captured in different image-capturingmodes in serial, anterior eye alignment, SLO focus fine adjustment, andCG rough adjustment can be omitted. With this, efficiency in adjustmentswhen image-capturing mode is changed is improved, and thereby cycle timefor image capturing can be improved.

On the other hand, even if the rough adjustment is omitted, sincesignificant change does not occur in alignment and focus of the anterioreye portion because it is the same eye, only with the fine adjustment,the adjustment can be performed accurately.

Even if the image-capturing modes are changed, when only a short periodof time has elapsed since the previous imaging, the situation almostremains the same, and thereby the fine adjustment can be omitted. FIG.15 illustrates a flowchart of adjustment control corresponding to such asituation.

According to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 15, a process performedby the control apparatus 1300 having the above structure is described.The processing similar to that in FIG. 14 is not described.

The CPU 1301 measures period of time elapsed from a previous imagecapturing, using a clock. In step S1501, the adjustment determinationunit 1303 obtains an elapsed time t from a previous image capturing. Theadjustment determination unit 1303 also obtains a time t threshold fromthe hard disk 305 as a threshold. The time t threshold may have aprescribed value or may be changeable by an operation from a userthrough the operation unit.

The adjustment determination unit 1303 compares the elapsed time t withthe time t threshold. When the adjustment determination unit 1303determines that the elapsed time t is larger than the time t threshold(YES in step S1501), the processing proceeds to step S1408. When theadjustment determination unit 1303 determines the elapsed time t is notlarger than the time t threshold (NO in step S1501), the CPU 1301 skipssteps S1408 and S1409, and ends the process.

When the image capturing interval is very short as described above, bothof the rough adjustment and the fine adjustment can be omitted, furtherreducing the cycle time for image capturing.

In the process illustrated in FIG. 15, the fine adjustment is omitteddepending on the image capturing interval length, but, for example, theadjustment determination unit 1303 may determine whether to omit thefine adjustment or not according to the information set by the user andstored in the memory. In this case, the user can control adjustment, asthe user desires.

When the rough adjustment is omitted after changing the image-capturingmodes, adjustment may be sometimes insufficient due to movement of asubject for example. FIG. 16 illustrates a flowchart of adjustmentcontrol corresponding to such a situation.

According to the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 16, a process performedby the control apparatus 1300 having the above-described structure isdescribed. The processing similar to that illustrated in FIG. 14 is notdescribed.

In step S1601, the completion determination unit 1304 determines whetheradjustment is completed and whether image capturing can be started. Thedetermination is made by checking the luminance value and/or imagequality of an obtained tomographic image, and determining whether theluminance value and/or image quality meets predetermined criteria. Thecompletion determination unit 1304 also determines whether the resultanttomographic image contains a retina therein, using the luminance value.When the image of the retina is not contained therein (NO in stepS1601), the completion determination unit 1304 determines thatadjustment is not completed.

In step S1602, the CPU 1301 performs readjustment of the focus and thecoherence gate. The readjustment is performed within a third focus rangeand a third CG range that are wider than the second focus range and thesecond CG range, respectively.

As described above, when it is determined that more adjustment isnecessary after the fine adjustment, readjustment is performed within awider searching range than that for the fine adjustment, thereby leadingto an appropriate adjustment. The adjustment range can be expanded untilsufficient readjustment is performed. Accordingly, when only onereadjustment is not enough, readjustment can be repeated until no moreadjustment is necessary.

when it is determined that more adjustment is still necessary afteradjustment was performed within the range for rough adjustmentillustrated in steps S1404 to S1407, a notification indicating criteriasatisfying image cannot be obtained is displayed on the display unit302, which can omit useless repetition of adjustments.

When it is determined that more adjustment is necessary even afterreadjustments were performed within the expanded predetermined range,the readjustment may be ended after the readjustment is repeated withinthe predetermined range for a predetermined period of time, even if theadjustment fails due to accidental events such as movement of a subject,without any adjustment performed within a needless range.

If the coherence gate position is changed, sometimes fine adjustment maybe needed within a wider range than that for the case without change inthe coherence gate position. FIG. 17 illustrates a flowchart foradjustment control corresponding to such a situation.

According to the flowchart in FIG. 17, a process performed by thecontrol apparatus 1300 having the above-described structure isdescribed. The processing similar to that illustrated in FIG. 14 is notdescribed.

In step S1701, the adjustment determination unit 1303 refers to theinformation of the image-capturing modes before and after changing thatis stored in the hard disk 305, and determines whether the CG positionhas been changed. Examples of the CG position mode include a vitreousbody mode in which the CG is set on the vitreous body side at thedistance equal to that from the reference optical path, and a choroidmembrane mode in which the CG is set on the choroidal side.

When adjustment determination unit 1303 determines that the CG positionhas not been changed (NO in step S1701), as illustrated in FIG. 14, thefine adjustments in steps S1408 and S1409 are performed. Whendetermining that the CG position has been changed (YES in step S1701),the adjustment determination unit 1303 determines more adjustment isneeded within a wider range, and the processing proceeds to step S1702.

The focus position adjustment in step S1702 is performed within asearching range different from that in step S1408. The SLO scannercontrol circuit 308 sets the focus adjustment range as a third focusrange smaller than the first focus range and larger than the secondfocus range. In other words, the adjustment in step S1702 is performedwithin a range wider than that for the fine adjustment in step S1408.

The adjustment in step S1702 may be performed by moving a focus at asecond focus pitch, but a third focus pitch may be used which is smallerthan the first focus pitch and larger than the second focus pitch, sothat the increase in the period of time for adjustment can besuppressed.

The CG position adjustment in step S1703 is performed within a searchingrange different from that in step S1409. The OCT scanner control circuit311 sets the CG adjustment range as a third CG range which is smallerthan the first CG range and larger than the second CG range. In otherwords, the CG adjustment in step S1703 is performed within a range widerthan that for the fine adjustment in step S1408.

In step S1703, the CG or focus searching range (i.e., the third CG rangeor the third focus range) may be determined, according to the changecontent for a target position in an adjustment item set in the imagingapparatus 10.

With reference to FIG. 18, fine adjustment of a coherence gate afterchanging of the image-capturing modes in step S1703 in FIG. 17 isdescribed. FIG. 18 illustrates a case where the CG position is changedfrom the vitreous body mode to the CG position in the choroid membranemode.

In the upper portion of FIG. 18, an adjustment range (i.e., the secondrange) in the vitreous body mode (before changing of the image-capturingmode), and a pitch (i.e., the second pitch) are illustrated. In thelower portion of FIG. 18, the searching range is extended in the depthdirection of the eye because it is the change from the vitreous bodymode to the choroid membrane mode.

As illustrated in FIG. 18, the change of a coherence gate positionincludes a direction. Therefore, the adjustment determination unit 1303specifies the changed direction based on the image-capturing modesbefore and after the changing, and sets the third CG range to beextended in the specified direction.

In this way, efficient setting of a CG position can be achieved. Withrespect to a focus position also, the same concept can be used. Theadjustment determination unit 1303 determines a third focus range as afocus searching range, leading to efficient setting of a focus position.

In the adjustment in step S1703, the pitch in CG movement may be thesecond CG pitch, but a third CG pitch that is narrower than the first CGpitch and wider than the second CG pitch may be used, which further cansuppress the increase in adjustment period of time for adjustment.

As described above, depending on the information about mode changing, anadjustment range can be adaptively-changed to achieve both of reductionin cycle time for image capturing and maintenance of image quality. Inthe present exemplary embodiment, when a CG position is changed due tomode changing, adjustment is performed within a searching range widerthan that for fine adjustment in FIG. 14. This extension leads to atomographic image having a better quality, even when the coherence gateis changed, by performing an appropriate adjustment with a reducedperiod of time.

The items for the adjustment are not limited to those illustrated inFIGS. 14 to 18. FIG. 19 illustrates a flowchart of a control processwith an increased number of items.

According to the flowchart in FIG. 19, a process performed by thecontrol apparatus 1300 having the above-described structure isdescribed. The processing similar to that in FIG. 14 is not described.

In step S1901, the stage driving control circuit 321 performs trackingof an anterior eye. An anterior eye imaging unit captures images of theanterior eye at a predetermined frame rate. The anterior eye imagingunit calculates differences between frames to identify motion vectorsover the images, so that the stage is moved in the direction of themotion vectors. These operations are repeated to maintain alignment withthe anterior eye.

In step S1902, the SLO scanner control circuit 308 specifies a focusposition through a known hill-climbing method that uses contrastdetection. The image used for the detection is an SLO image.

In step S1903, the SLO scanner control circuit 308 starts tracking of afundus. The eye continuously is moving due to small involuntary eyemovement, fixation disparity, and movement of the subject. Due to theaffect of the movements, sometimes the setting of a coherence gate maytake a longer time, or cannot be performed appropriately.

TO avoid the affect, SLO images are captured at a predetermined framerate with a focus being on the fundus, and differences between theframes are obtained to specify motion vectors in the SLO images. The OCTscanner control circuit 311 is then controlled so that the scan positionof the OCT scanner is moved by the identified motion vectors.

In step S1904, the OCT scanner control circuit 311 performs coherencegate adjustment. In the adjustment, as described above, a CG position issequentially moved within the first CG range. When a tomographic imageof a retina can be obtained by moving the CG position, the adjustmentrange is narrowed after obtaining thereof, and more accurate adjustmentis performed. The CG position giving a maximum pixel value of the imageis stored as an adjusted CG position into the hard disk 305.

In step S1905, the NDF control circuit 1305 rotates a neutral densityfilter (NDF) placed in a reference optical path to control the intensityof a reference light beam.

The NDF is of a disk shape, and has attenuation coefficients that aredifferent depending on the positions thereon substantially in acontinuous manner along the circumferential direction. Rotation of suchNDF by a motor changes the attenuation coefficient of the light passingtherethrough. The NDF control circuit 1305 rotates the NDF to produce amaximum luminance value so that the intensity of the reference lightbeam and the intensity of the measuring beam are maintained at anappropriate ratio.

In step S1906, the polarization control circuit 1306 controls apolarization state of the measuring beam and the reference light beamthat are combined by the optical coupler 203. The polarization controlcircuit 1306 changes and controls the polarization states of thereference light beam and the interference light beam respectively toobtain an appropriate interference light beam at the optical fiber 203.By using the luminance value of an image obtained by the interferencelight beam, the polarization state is adjusted to be an appropriatestate.

In step S1907, the CPU 1301 automatically instructs to start capturingof tomographic images of a subject's eye, in response to an instructionfor imaging from a user or completion of the adjustments. The operationsfor image capturing have been described in the first exemplaryembodiment, which are not described here.

In step S1908, the CPU 1301 controls contrast and brightness. When a20-bit image was obtained in the image capturing in step S1907 forexample, the CPU 1301 performs a process to convert the 20-bit imageinto an 8-bit image. In the conversion, the CPU 1301 obtains a histogramof the image to specify a minimum value and a maximum value thereof. Themaximum value may be the average of the pixel values of the top 1%, andthe minimum value may be the average of the pixel values of the bottom1%.

The pixel value range defined by the maximum and minimum values isdivided into 256 gradations (8 bits) to obtain images. Such settingprovides an image with appropriate contrast and brightness.

In step S1909, the SLO scanner control circuit 308 starts tracking of ananterior eye, as in step S1902. The tracking corresponds to the fineadjustment in anterior eye alignment, and is necessary even if thetarget eye is not changed.

In step S1910, the SLO scanner control circuit 308 performs tracking ofa fundus, as in step S1903. The tracking enables appropriate imagecapturing even when a subject's eye cannot be see the fixation light ina fixed manner due to its movement. In other words, the tracking servesas a process for fine adjustment of alignment.

In step S1911, the NDF control circuit 1305 performs fine adjustment ofan amount of the reference light beam. In the fine adjustment, the NDFis rotated within a range narrower than the searching range in stepS1905, based on the amount of the reference light beam stored in thehard disk 305, to obtain an amount of the reference light beam as asuboptimal value.

In step S1912, the polarization control circuit 1306 performs fineadjustment of a polarization state. In the fine adjustment, thepolarization state is changed within a range narrower than the searchingrange in step S1906, based on the polarization state stored in the harddisk 305, to set the polarization state to a suboptimal state.

In step S1913, the CPU 1301 instructs to start capturing of tomographicimages of a subject's eye, as in step S1907.

As described above, the adjustment of an amount of the reference lightbeam, the adjustment of a polarization state, and the adjustment ofcontrast and brightness after image capturing may be omitted dependingon a situation.

When the focus adjustment or the hill-climbing method using contrastdetection is used, adjustment range can be narrowed to set a startposition for adjustment based on the information about the previousimage capturing, the adjustment can be performed efficiently. The sameadvantage can be obtained for the other adjustment items.

In a third exemplary embodiment, the following case may also occur inthat after a first image-capturing mode is set, adjustment correspondingto the image-capturing mode is started, and then the image-capturingmode is changed before completion of the adjustment.

In this case, the adjustment determination unit 1303 of the controlapparatus 1300 determines on a target eye exchange in step S1402, andalso determines to which step the process for the adjustment hasprogressed in FIG. 14, for example.

If the target eye has not been exchanged and steps S1403 and S1404 arebeing performed or are completed, the processing of step S1405 and thesubsequent steps is continued. This is because uncompleted roughadjustment needs to be finished.

When an image-capturing mode is changed during the focus fine adjustmentin step S1405 or after the completion of the focus fine adjustment, theCPU 1301 instructs the SLO scanner control circuit 308 to repeat thefocus fine adjustment in step S1405. The processing of step S1406 andthe subsequent steps is continued. This is because the focus roughadjustment has been completed, and only fine adjustment is necessary.

When an image-capturing mode is changed during the CG rough adjustmentin step S1406, the fine adjustments in step S1408 and step S1409 areperformed after completion of the CG rough adjustment. When animage-capturing mode is changed after completion of the CG roughadjustment in step S1407, the processing of step S1408 and thesubsequent steps is continued.

The above operations prevents repetition of the rough adjustment,leading to efficient adjustment processing.

When the processing of step S1408 or step S1409 is being performed, theCPU 1301 instructs the SLO scanner control circuit 308 and the OCTscanner control circuit 311 to perform the focus fine adjustment and CGfine adjustment respectively again.

If the target eye has been changed, no matter which step is beingperformed, the processing proceeds to step S1403, and processingthereafter is continued.

In the above exemplary embodiments, the SLO focusing and the CGadjustment may be performed in parallel. For example, when the SLO andthe OCT individually have a focus lens, the OCT focus can be adjustedusing the OCT focus driver 319 of the OCT scanner control circuit 311,in conjunction with the SLO focus adjustment.

At the same time, the OCT scanner control circuit 311 uses an OCTscanner driver (X) 312 and an OCT scanner driver (Y) 313 for OCTscanning to obtain a tomographic image, and performs CD adjustment bymoving the reference mirror using the reference mirror driver 320according to the information of the resultant image. This decreases theperiod of time for adjustment.

Furthermore, at the point of time when the SLO focus rough adjustment instep S1404 and the OCT focus rough adjustment being in conjunction withthe rough adjustment in step S1404 are completed, the SLO focus fineadjustment in step S1405, the CG rough adjustment in step S1406, and theCG fine adjustment in S1407 are performed in parallel. With theseadjustments, when the OCT focus is roughly obtained, a coherence gateadjustment can be performed efficiently using the information of thetomographic image.

Similarly, the SLO focus fine adjustment in step S1408, OCT focus fineadjustment being in conjunction with the fine adjustment in step S1408,and the CG fine adjustment in step S1409 are performed in parallel,leading to reduction in the period of time for adjustment.

In the third exemplary embodiment, when the eye is exchanged, thesearching range is extended and adjustments are repeated from a roughadjustment. However, it is not limited thereto, and when it is knownthat the right and left eyes have similar characteristics, the roughadjustment may be omitted, even when the target eye is changed. In thiscase, however, alignment of an anterior eye needs to be performed again.

In the above exemplary embodiments, the first to third exemplaryembodiments are described independently, but it is not limited thereto,and these exemplary embodiments can be combined. For example, the CPU1301, after determining the existence of high myopia or misalignment ofthe coherence gate performed in step S405 of the first exemplaryembodiment, issues instruction to perform focus rough adjustment ofcoherence gate rough adjustment even when the eye is not exchanged. Inthis way, appropriate adjustment can be performed in a case of highmyopia or coherence gate misalignment.

In addition, for example, when the programmed image capturing isperformed as in the second exemplary embodiment, the period of timerequired for rough adjustment and fine adjustment is measured inadvance. The measured period of time is stored in the hard disk 305, sothat the order of image capturing is determined in view of the period oftime, leading to more efficient image capturing.

In the first exemplary embodiment, it is determined whether adjustmentis required for each adjustment item according to the change of theimage-capturing mode (or the image-capturing site) after capturing thepreview. In the second exemplary embodiment, it is determined whetheradjustment is required for each adjustment item according to the shiftof the image-capturing mode (or change of the image-capturing site), theimage-capturing modes (or exchange of the image-capturing sites) beingset before image capturing.

However, it is not limited thereto, and for example, a case may occur inwhich an image-capturing mode (or an image-capturing site) is set, andthe image-capturing mode is changed after adjustment corresponding tothe image-capturing site is started and the adjustment is completed. Inone exemplary embodiment, in such a case, the table illustrated in thesecond exemplary embodiment may be used to determine whetherreadjustment is required or not for each adjustment item, and theadjustment is performed only for the items requiring the adjustment.

Similarly, the determination process by the determination unit 3012 andadjustment control by the CPU 301 serving as a control unit can beperformed, even after completion of adjustment and before completion ofpreview image capturing.

In the first exemplary embodiment, the determination unit 3012 may notmake a determination on a coherence gate position when it is determinedthat the position of the fixation light is different before and afterchanging of the image-capturing modes as the image-capturing conditions.

Instead, both adjustment of the relative positions of the test objectand the imaging apparatus (alignment adjustment), and the adjustment ofthe coherence gate position may be performed. Different alignments meansdifferent sites to be imaged, and thereby even if both sites reside nearthe choroid membrane in their depth directions, sometimes a coherencegate cannot be aligned with the choroid membrane for the differentsites.

As another example, in the second exemplary embodiment, the CPU 301determines the optimal order of image capturing according to the inputimage-capturing modes (or the image-capturing sites), displays theoptimal order on the display apparatus 302. When receiving a signalindicating a user's permission of the image capturing in the order, theCPU 301 starts image capturing in the determined order.

Furthermore, a user may desire to instruct a specific order of imagecapturing, for example, when a user desires to determine whether imagecapturing of other sites are to be performed or not according to theresult of a previously captured images of a specific image-capturingsite. For such a case, a user can instruct changing of the determinedorder of image capturing through a keyboard and mouse (not illustrated),for example.

The CPU 301 serving as a control unit changes the order of imagecapturing in response to the instruction, and controls image capturingto be performed in the changed order.

When a user sets a restriction to the order of image capturing, the CPU301 may be configured to determine the order of image capturing so thatthe period of time required for image capturing is minimized in therestriction. In this case, the CPU 301 serves as a determination unitconfigured to determine the order of image capturing and a displaycontrol unit for the display apparatus 302.

The imaging apparatus may be provided with both functions of the firstand second exemplary embodiments. In this case, the CPU 301 maydetermine whether to execute each function according to a selection froma user.

The above exemplary embodiments are described on the assumption that theimaging apparatus has an automatic adjustment function. However, in theimaging apparatus without the automatic adjustment function, and inwhich adjustment is performed manually, the imaging apparatus may notifya user of necessary adjustment items and unnecessary adjustment items.

In this case, the determination unit 3012 determines whether adjustmentfor each item is necessary or not before and after changing ofimage-capturing modes, and the CPU 301 causes the display apparatus 302to display the determination results. In this way, an operatorinexperienced to the OCT imaging apparatus can perform settings of imagecapturing efficiently, and the burden to the subject can be reducedbecause the period of time required for image capturing is reduced.

In the above exemplary embodiments, the control apparatus 20 isseparated from the imaging apparatus 10, but the imaging apparatus 10may include the control functions of the control apparatus 20.

The control according to the above exemplary embodiments can be appliedto an imaging apparatus that captures images of a biological object oran object to be examined other than an eye portion. The application ofthe control to an OCT imaging apparatus using the principle of OpticalCoherence Tomography results in reduction in period of time required foralignment.

When the above-described control is applied to an OCT imaging apparatusfor eye examination, a subject's head may be fixed to the imagingapparatus 10 during adjustment and image capturing to reduce the burdenof the subject who needs to hold fixation to the fixation light.

The above-described control may be applied to an image capturing systemor image diagnosis system whose functions are shared with a plurality ofapparatuses.

An embodiment of the present invention also includes a computer programto realize the functions and processes performed in the above exemplaryembodiments.

When the program reads and executes a program, the functions accordingto the exemplary embodiments are achieved. Alternatively, the functionsaccording to the exemplary embodiments may be achieved in cooperationwith an operation system (OS) running on a computer based oninstructions from the program. In this case, the OS partly or entirelyexecutes the actual processes, and the functions according to theexemplary embodiments can be achieved.

The above exemplary embodiments are only examples, and embodiments ofthe present invention is not limited to those exemplary embodiments.

Another embodiment of the present invention can also be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus (or devices such as a CPU or MPU) thatreads out and executes a program recorded on a memory device to performthe functions of the above-described embodiments, and by a method, thesteps of which are performed by a computer of a system or apparatus by,for example, reading out and executing a program recorded on a memorydevice to perform the functions of the above-described embodiments. Forthis purpose, the program is provided to the computer for example via anetwork or from a recording medium of various types serving as thememory device (e.g., computer-readable medium). In such a case, thesystem or apparatus, and the recording medium where the program isstored, are included as being within an embodiment of the presentinvention.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that embodiments of thepresent invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments.The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all modifications, equivalentstructures, and functions.

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No.2011-079362 filed Mar. 31, 2011 and Japanese Patent Application No.2012-013037 filed Jan. 25, 2012, which are hereby incorporated byreference herein in their entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A control apparatus for controlling an imagingapparatus, wherein the imaging apparatus has (a) an emitting unitconfigured to emit a fixation light at a predetermined fixation lightposition, (b) an imaging unit configured to obtain a tomographic imageof an eye fixed in position by the fixation light, and (c) a focus lensconfigured to focus light reflected by the eye on the imaging unit,comprising: at least one memory; and at least one processor that is incommunication with the memory and that is configured to cause thecontrol apparatus to function as: a selection unit configured to selectan imaging mode for imaging the eye; a control unit configured tocontrol a position of the focus lens so that the imaging unit obtains anin-focus tomographic image of the eye; and a determination unitconfigured to determine whether the currently selected imaging mode forimaging the eye indicates that the predetermined fixation light positionis the same as the previously selected imaging mode for imaging the eye,wherein based on a determination that the currently selected imagingmode for imaging the eye indicates a different fixation light positionfrom the previously selected imaging mode for imaging the eye, thecontrol unit is configured to move the position of the focus lens, andbased on a determination that the currently selected imaging modeindicates the same fixation light position as the previously selectedimaging mode, the control unit is configured to maintain the position ofthe focus lens.
 2. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein,when it is determined that a position of a fixation light of the imagingapparatus is different for the currently selected imaging mode and thepreviously selected imaging mode, the control unit performs theadjustment of a relative position between the eye and the imagingapparatus, the focus lens, and a position of a coherence gate.
 3. Thecontrol apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unitdetermines, in a case where the currently selected image mode indicatesa different fixation light position from the previously selected imagingmode, to adjust the relative position between the eye and the imagingapparatus.
 4. The control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thefixation light position is a fixation light position for capturing amacula or a fixation light position for capturing an optic disc.
 5. Thecontrol apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unitdetermines, in a case where the currently selected image mode and thepreviously selected imaging mode indicate sites that are located atdifferent layers of the retina of the eye, to adjust the position of acoherence gate.
 6. The control apparatus according to claim 5, whereinthe different layers of the retina of the subject's eye include apigmented epithelium layer and a nerve fiber layer.
 7. The controlapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the currently selected imagemode includes a different parameter for obtaining the tomographic imagefrom the previously selected imaging mode.
 8. The control apparatusaccording to claim 7, wherein the different parameter is a parametercausing a change of a coherence gate from the previously selectedimaging mode.
 9. The control apparatus according to claim 8, wherein thedifferent parameter is a different depth parameter for obtaining thetomographic image having a different depth in the eye from thepreviously selected imaging mode.
 10. The control apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein in a case that it is determined that the currentlyselected imaging mode indicates a same fixation light position as thepreviously selected imaging mode and it is determined that a change ofthe currently selected image mode from the previously selected imagingmode indicates a change between the choroid membrane mode and vitreousbody mode, the control unit is configured to move a position of acoherence gate with maintaining the position of the focus lens.
 11. Thecontrol apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the determination unitdetermines whether the currently selected imaging mode for imaging theeye indicates that a coherence gate position is the same as thepreviously selected imaging mode for imaging the eye, wherein based on adetermination that the currently selected imaging mode for imaging theeye indicates a different coherence gate position from the previouslyselected imaging mode for imaging the eye, the control unit isconfigured to move the position of a coherence gate, and based on adetermination that the currently selected imaging mode indicates thesame coherence gate position as the previously selected imaging mode,the control unit is configured to maintain the position of the coherencegate.
 12. A method, executed by at least one processor, of controllingan imaging apparatus including (a) an emitting unit configured to emit afixation light at a predetermined fixation light position, (b) animaging unit configured to obtain a tomographic image of an eye fixed inposition by the fixation light, and (c) a focus lens configured to focuslight reflected by the eye on the imaging unit, the method comprising:selecting an imaging mode for imaging the eye; controlling a position ofthe focus lens so that the imaging unit obtains an in-focus tomographicimage of the eye; and determining, whether the currently selectedimaging mode for imaging the eye indicates that the predeterminedfixation light position is the same as the previously selected imagingmode for imaging the eye, wherein based on a determination that thecurrently selected imaging mode for imaging the eye indicates adifferent fixation light position from the previously selected imagingmode for imaging the eye, moving the position of the focus lens, andbased on a determination that the currently selected imaging modeindicates the same fixation light position as the previously selectedimaging mode, maintaining the position of the focus lens.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program thatcauses a computer to execute a method for performing image capturingcontrol processing in an imaging apparatus that includes (a) an emittingunit configured to emit a fixation light at a predetermined fixationlight position, (b) an imaging unit configured to obtain a tomographicimage of an eye fixed in position by the fixation light, and (c) a focuslens configured to focus light reflected by the eye on the imaging unit,the method comprising: selecting an imaging mode for imaging the eye;controlling a position of the focus lens so that the imaging unitobtains an in-focus tomographic image of the eye; and determining,whether the currently selected imaging mode for imaging the eyeindicates that the predetermined fixation light position is the same asthe previously selected imaging mode for imaging the eye, wherein basedon a determination that the currently selected imaging mode for imagingthe eye indicates a different fixation light position from thepreviously selected imaging mode for imaging the eye, moving theposition of the focus lens, and based on a determination that thecurrently selected imaging mode indicates the same fixation lightposition as the previously selected imaging mode, maintaining theposition of the focus lens.